Hi Sally. I'm sorry for what you're going through and I wanted to give you a big hug.

Did no-one tell you at the time that radiation would do that sort of thing to your bladder and bowels? I'd have thought it was one of the things even a nurse could have discussed with you.

I too went through the hysterectomy thing at a young age, 31 years old for me, but I didn't have cancer of the cervix. Mine was done for heavy bleeding that couldn't be contained any other way, so I didn't have to go through what you did with follow up treatments.

My mother however, died from cervical cancer at the age of 57, and I've always been glad that I lost my cervix at an early age, so I wouldn't go through what she did. Little did I know that I'd be hit with bowel cancer, then nose cancer instead.

I had no intentions of trying for any more children when I had my hysterectomy, as I'd already lost 4 babies by then with only one live birth, but I still went through a period of mourning for what might have been had I still had a uterus.

Apart from a temporary supra-pubic catheter for a while post operatively, I didn't start to have any bladder problems until long after I'd been diagnosed with MS, so although hysterectomies and bladder problems can be related, for me it wasn't so.

My initial bladder problem was a sudden neurogenic bladder, where the urine simply "fell out" without any warning at all. That eased almost as suddenly as it started and my bladder went the other way. I then had urinary retention and was unable to void at all. I had to learn to self catheterise, which I did intermittently, but at the moment I seem to be having a reprieve. I haven't had to use a catheter for several months now, but I assure you I have no delusions that it'll be this way forever. For me, these bladder problems I've listed can be directly related to MS and not the hysterectomy.

My bowel problems (at that stage it was constipation) started around the same time as the urinary retention, but whether that was completely due to MS, or whether the bowel cancer had something to do with it, I just don't know. I only know that at the moment all my exhaust pipes are functioning satisfactorily, and I don't want to do anything to change that.

I'm sorry I have no words of wisdom to impart, but I hope things settle down for you, at least enough to make you comfortable.